Where Passion Meets Precision

My name is Richard Barnes II, but I'm known as Ricky by most. I am a native Michigander. I grew up on a lake in Waterford and graduated from the University of Michigan in 2009. I have spent the following fifteen years performing biomedical research and pharmaceutical drug development coast-to-coast from Los Angeles to Boston.

Cars and boats were a part of my life way before I became a scientist, and anyone who has known me for more than five minutes knows that cars (and boats) are my biggest passion. I own and personally maintain a small fleet of collector cars. In fact, I still have my first car from when I was sixteen, a 1988 Camaro IROC-Z. This passion comes comes with a great deal of responsibility, a huge part being keeping them CLEAN. This goes back a long way: My grandmothers would pay me a dollar or two to vacuum out their cars when I was young. Then, my first real job was at a carwash. That didn't last long, ironically enough. My detailing career manifested in high school when I worked at a local marina during the summer. During this time I learned every facet of marine care and maintenance. It is now time for me to share a talent with you that I have been quietly crafting for over twenty years.

Please don't mind my messy hair in the photo below... I was at the Grand Canyon in the middle of a 5,000 mile road trip going around the country and living out of my van in May 2024.